


Homecoming

by smol_sophic



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, solider au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-23 02:55:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11980608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smol_sophic/pseuds/smol_sophic
Summary: Shitty airports and delayed flights are sometimes worth suffering through.





	Homecoming

Airports were terrible. Airports are terrible. So many people bustling to and from, people sprinting to make their flights, people complaining loudly, a baby shrieking possibly solely for purpose of making everyone else want to commit either homicide or suicide. Keith couldn’t stand it, staring at the child with intense hatred knowing full well the only thing he’d accomplish is scaring it more. His dog lying under the bench he waited on did nothing to comfort him in his tired state, it only whined at the occasional pet that passed by. He almost regretted getting up so early, at 4AM, only to have the flight delayed by three hours. He’d already killed time wandering around, skimming through magazines at stands, half heartedly looking at the souvenirs for his home city, drinking more coffee than he, rationally speaking, should. There weren’t many places he could go with a dog and his car in airport valet, so he sat patiently. The large clock high on the wall struck 8, and he’d officially been waiting four hours. And now, his phone was dead. Wonderful. At least the baby was gone. 

He slumped against the bench back and began drifting off into dreamland. Only using half his brain to knot the leash around his hand, and leaning back to fall asleep despite the cheap, harsh lighting. He didn’t dream, as per usual, only floated in and out of consciousness until someone rudely shoved his shoulder. He wasn’t proud of the irritated and frustrated groan he gave the airport worker, but he didn’t really care anymore. She jumped a bit and hesitated before informing him that he couldn’t sleep there. How spectacular, she thought he was homeless. 

“I’m sorry,” he grumbled, sitting up and running a hand through his bedhead as if that would do anything to tame it. “I’m waiting for someone.”

“Oh! I am so sorry sir,” she apologized profusely after realizing her mistake. After convincing her it was fine she left him alone with a final comment about how cute his dog was. Keith chuckled to himself and affectionately patted his dog on the head, just barely remembering when it had crawled out from under the bench to sit by his leg. He looked at the clock and it read 9:36 AM, he’d snoozed for over another hour. No wonder that worker came over to check up on him. She’d probably lost the rock, paper, scissors game with her coworkers to see who’d kick out the dirty hobo with the dog. Keith discreetly sniffed himself, wishing he’d taken a shower instead of essentially just rolling out of bed and jumping in the car that morning. 

“Hey, Azul,” he pet his dog’s head again. “Do I stink?” Azul only lovingly rubbed her cheek on his knee as he scratched under her ear. “You’re far too kind, I know I smell it’s okay, girl.” Habitually he took out his phone, only remembering it was dead after clicking the home button a few too many times as was necessary. He cursed his past self, not thinking to do anything but throw on the jeans he wore yesterday, which fortunately still had his wallet and keys in the pockets, and keep the sweater he slept in. He could be sitting across the way with those three teenagers and one businessman at the charging station. Wasn’t ideal but it was better than making conversation with his dog. Azul snuck her head between his knees and looked up at him with her big powder blue eyes, whining at him before jumping up to place her two front paws on his thighs and come eye to eye with her human. Keith sighed through a weak smile as she licked his cheek.

“I know, girl, I miss him too.” He held the Blue Bay Shepherd’s head in his hands and pressed his forehead to hers. “But he’s coming back today. Hopefully, unless the storm delays his flight till tomorrow.” Azul smelled of home, her soft and fluffy fur tickling Keith’s nose as he kissed her nose, only narrowly avoiding getting a slobbery lick on the lips. He glanced over to the board full of blinking lights displaying the flight schedule, but couldn’t exactly see what he needed too because of it’s distance and his fatigued eyes. And he didn’t feel like walking over to it either. He’d already committed to waiting in uncertainty after the first time the flight was delayed due to a surprise snow storm. This was fine. 

It actually wasn’t fine but there was nothing he could do to change the situation. He took Azul for another walk around the airport, stopping to get a snack for his grumbling stomach and buy a book. An Agatha Christie that looked fairly intriguing and was surprisingly cheap. On his way back Keith stumbled on his shoelace he didn’t notice had come undone. After taking a moment to let out a distressed sigh, he took the leash between his teeth and crouched down to tie the laces of his beat up converse. Azul began whining again, but it fell on deaf ears as Keith concentrated on trying to tie the shoelace while holding a novel and a bagel in a paper bag at the same time. His dog began pulling and he feebly asked her to stop in a mumbled voice. She kept pulling though, and now she was barking and crying out, and now Keith was annoyed. He dropped the book and bagel to the floor between his feet and used his now free hands to quickly attempt to tie the laces in time to reign in Azul. Then the leash was painfully ripped from his teeth as the shepherd bolted off unfortunately just as he finished double knotting the laces. He cursed and tried calling her back angrily but the command died on his lips as he looked up to see what she hand shot off after. 

Keith choked on his breath, already feeling tears welling even though he promised Azul in the car ride there several hours ago that he wouldn’t cry. A hand reached up to cover his mouth in slight disbelief and shock. He took a few hesitant steps forward, then broke out into an all out sprint following the dog’s path. 

“Lance!” Keith yelled happily as he almost tackled his boyfriend to the ground leaping into his arms. Azul barked and jumped circles around the two young men with unimaginable excitement. They both laughed at the sight through teary eyes and huge smiles, embracing as tightly as if their lives depended on not letting go. Keith buried his face into the crook of Lance’s neck, grabbing at the back of the army issued uniform as he kept his legs wrapped firmly around his boyfriend’s waist. Lance held him up with an iron clad grip, hiding his freely flowing tears on Keith’s shoulder, staining the vibrantly blue hoodie that was most definitely Lance’s before he had left.

They didn’t speak for what felt like decades, just breathed in each other’s scent and warmth, reveling in their happy reunion. When they finally looked each other in the eyes the tears came back stronger than ever as they kissed. Kissing deeply, shedding all the longing they’d built up over the few months shy of a 3 year long service, as if kissing each other was like coming home. But in a way it actually was like coming home. Keith lost himself in Lance, tangling fingers in his hair, taking his tongue into his mouth, kissing him to the point where he felt his lips begin bruising and his lungs burning and screaming for air. Panting as they parted, and touching their foreheads as they both gasped for oxygen, they chuckled for no real reason. Until the thought of the scene they were making crossed their minds around the same time, then they were laughing for a reason. It was so disgustingly cliché, but that didn’t really matter as a they heard a group of younger girls began fawning over the scene they were making in the middle of the airport. A moment later Lance let Keith down to stand and wiped a rolling tear off his boyfriend’s cheek. Keith reached up and held the cold hand against his face, a much missed smile spreading across his face at the touch. Azul shoved her way in between the two, jumping up to get more attention from her true owner, Lance. 

“My sweet baby girl!” Lance crouched down to hug his dog, burying his face in her muted cobalt fur and expressing how much he missed her in baby talk. Azul slobbered all over his face as she licked him, but he couldn’t care less at the drool. He was home finally, that’s all he cared about. He looked up to see Keith giggling, rubbing his tired eyes with his sleeve and grinning ear to ear, adorable dimples on full display. Lance couldn’t help but stand up to kiss Keith once again.

“Fuck,” he breathed against his boyfriend’s lips. “I missed you so much, Keith.”

“I guess I missed you too,” Keith smiled at the scoff his comment drew from Lance.

“Well geez, I’ve only been fighting a war for three years.” They snickered, shortly embracing once again. The feeling of each other’s chests rising and falling in deep breaths, the silence that was only achieved by tuning out the rest of the world, it was so surreal, too perfect to be true. But it was true, they were together again, finally. Lance planted a kiss right under Keith’s ear and pointed out how this was almost exactly like a romantic comedy he saw once. It wasn’t his choice to see it, of course, he was roped into it by friends, obviously, and didn’t enjoy the movie at all. Keith just sighed contently into Lance’s shoulder as that familiar voice filled his ears, warm breath tickling his skin.

“How cheesy would it be if I proposed to you right now?” Lance asked playfully. Keith shook his head with a short laugh. He opened his mouth to answer, Jesus, that would be so terribly cheesy, but the words got stuck in his throat as Lance’s hands fell from his waist and he dropped to one knee with one hand rooting around in his pocket. 

“Oh my god,” Keith placed a hand over his mouth and choked back the new tears that began prickling at his eyes. “Jesus Christ, Lance, I can’t believe you.” 

“Keith,” Lance beamed up at his boyfriend, ring box in hand. “You know this is exactly the kind of thing I would do.” His fingers hovered over the box before opening it, letting the diamonds and gold catch the light and glitter.

“Keith Kogane, will you-” Lance was interrupted by Azul barking and hopping up onto his back to lick the back of his ear. The weight of the large dog pushed him over and making his foot slip to where he was on both knees. His knee stung with mild pain as it hit the tile floor, but he hollered with laughter anyways as he shrugged Azul off his back. 

“Keith,” he tried to restart, but a slobbery tongue on his chin stopped him in his tracks.

“Shut up, of course I’ll marry you.” Keith pulled Lance up by his collar and kissed him firmly, wrapping his arms around his neck to keep him close. Azul tried to insert herself again but they held onto each other tighter this time to prevent their embrace from being broken again.

“Should Azul be our something blue at the wedding?” Lance joked, kissing the twinkling smile plastered on Keith’s face. Keith nodded with a glance down at their dog, wagging her tail fiercely and searching for a way to stick herself in between their legs. He leaned down and grabbed her leash up off the floor to keep her from going anywhere, even though he doubted she would with Lance around. 

“Let’s go home.”

“I thought you’d never ask.” 

The buzz of the highway filled the silence of the car, the snowy road crunching under the wheels. Keith put all his focus on driving, fighting his urge to hold Lance’s hand or look over at those baby blues, because he knew he’d crash if he got lost in those eyes. Lance leaned over the center console, the whole drive just watching Keith. Watching him flip on his turn signal, sneer at pedestrians not using the crosswalk, do all of the things he does while driving, things Lance had desperately missed seeing. He took in the view, noticing how tired his fiancé was now that he was getting a better look. The sight tugged at his heartstrings, the image of the tried, messy, love of his life crawling out of an empty bed in the small hours of the morning to wait hours for him in a dinky airport. That was what love was, he thought. Love was doing the only thing you hated the most, in Keith’s case getting up before noon, and not complaining at all. Just waiting patiently. Although it was clear it irritated Keith to do nothing but sit and wander like a zombie, he still did it. He did exactly that for three years, and this had been the home stretch. 

As they pulled into the driveway Azul began pacing and whining in the back seat, recognizing that they were home and wanting to go inside. The two men got out and both opened the back doors for the dog without realizing the other had it covered. Azul looked back and forth between the two exits for a moment, then chose Lance’s side, and they both chuckled as she bounded up the porch steps to their front door. 

“Lance,” Keith said just before his fiancé had time to close the car door. They looked through the inside of car at each other and Keith leaned in with a smile. Lance followed suit and ducked into the car, kissing Keith over the back seat with a wide grin. They lingered close to each other for a moment before a bark called their attention.

“Our child is calling us,” Lance pointed out with a small chuckle. Keith rolled his eyes with a smile, planting a kiss on Lance’s nose before exiting the car and walking up the porch steps. Lance grabbed his bags from the trunk and looked up to see Azul and Keith waiting for him in the open doorframe, the two things he loved most welcoming him home with bright and joyous expressions.


End file.
